School-Age Children's Time Alone with Fathers in Single- and Dual-Earner Families: Implications for the Father-Child Relationship

This study examined (a) the extent to which father-child dyadic involvement varies as a function of parental earner status, father s work-related availability, and child's gender and (b) the connectionts between father-child involvement and children's assessments of their fathers and their feelings of closeness to their fathers. Total involvement and involvement in “quality time” were assessed via seven daily telephone interviews with 147 children, age 9 to 11 years. Children reported on the extent to which they had engaged in each of 32 activities during the day of each call and with whom they had engaged in each activity. In separate home interviews, fathers reported their work schedules, and children completed two measures assessing their relationship with their fathers. Results indicated that fathers in single-earner families spent significantly more time in dyadic activities with sons than with daughters; dual-earner fathers spent equal amounts of time with sons and daughters. Controlling for family size, girls with greater dyadic involvement felt closer to their fathers than did girls with less dyadic involvement; boys' feelings of closeness were not linked to levels of one-to-one involvement with their fathers.